Is Stealth Worth Spending $1,000,000,000,000

F-35 and F-22. Photo from Military Photos And Photoshops

Dave Majumdar, National Interest: The U.S. Military's $1,000,000,000,000 Question: Is Stealth Worth It?

Is the added cost of buying and operating a stealth fighter worth it?

The answers will vary depending on who you ask—and it depends on if one believes stealth is a baseline requirement to survive over a future battlefield or not.

The U.S. Air Force has publicly embraced stealth as the end all and be all, while the U.S. Navy has taken a more skeptical approach. While Air Force officials publicly pronounce that the F-35 will be able fight alone and unafraid, the Navy has argued for balanced survivability using a combination of assets including electronic attack, stand-off weapons and, yes, some measure of stealth.

WNU Editor: The Russian military believe this talk of stealth is over-rated .... Russian General: U.S. 'Stealth Planes' Cannot Hide From Russian Anti-Aircraft Missiles. Ditto for the Chinese .... U.S. Stealth Fighters Cannot Hide From Chinese Missiles And Radar.